We have no experimental evidence that this is the proper explanation of the CP asymmetry that we see, however. If this is the explanation then another source of CP violation must explain the only other manifestation of CP violation, the baryon-antibaryon asymmetry in the universe. Understanding the source, or sources, of CP violation is one of the central problems in particle physics.
The characteristic experimental signature of the Standard Model explanation
of CP violation is the existence of very large, predictable asymmetries
in some decays of the B-meson. A new type of electron-positron collider,
called the B-Factory, has been designed specifically to make it possible
to study these asymmetries in great detail. The PEP-II
collider at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
is one of two such facilities recently constructed, with the other in Japan.
It will also be possible to look for new, rare decays of B mesons with
these colliders.
Three faculty members lead a group of eleven UCSB particle physicists working with the BABAR collaboration, which is building the experimental apparatus for the PEP-II B-Factory. The UCSB group has taken a large responsibility for building the Silicon Vertex Tracker(SVT), which is at the heart of the experiment. We are also participating in the construction of a new type of detector to identify the produced particles, using totally internally reflected Cherenkov light.
The SVT is now completely assembled, as you can see here.
The construction of the entire BaBar experiment will be finished by the
March, 1999, and we will start taking data next summer.
( Claudio
Campagnari , Jeffrey
Richman , Michael
Witherell )
"The BaBar Silicon Vertex Tracker" , talk given by Jeff Richman at the Pisa Detector Conference, 1997.